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"The three-span,
252-foot Mueller Bridge at McAlister Crossing features polygonal camelback
trusses with multiple panels."
Photo courtesy Shirley Grammer, 2001 |
Bridge at McAlister
Crossing
(aka Mueller Bridge)
The Bridge at McAlister
Crossing (also known as Mueller Bridge) was listed in the National
Register of Historic Places on October 16, 2007 as Mueller Bridge.
It was also placed on Texas' Most Endangered List in 2006. The bridge
was approved for Recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation in 2004
and a marker was erected in 2005. Unfortunately, the marker was stolen
in 2008 and has not been recovered. The bridge is deteriorating rapidly
but no funds are available for renovation. Following is a brief history
of the bridge:
Historical Marker Text:
"John Murphy McAlister (1807-1885) and his wife, Isabella (McClain)
(1817-1872) settled in La
Vernia with their family in the early 1850s. In 1857 they purchased
several hundred acres of land on the southwest bank of Cibolo Creek.
The natural stream crossing adjacent to their property became known
as McAlister Crossing and for years served residents on both sides.
The McAlister children subdivided the land following their father's
death in 1885. About the same time, county commissioners designated
the local route, including the crossing, as road No. 62 (present County
Road 337). In 1906 the Henry Mueller Family purchased land on the
east side of the creek; a son would later buy land on the west side,
just southwest of McAlister Crossing. In 1908, county commissioners
permitted the placement of telephone poles along the road and the
creek crossing. In 1915 the commissioners Court contracted with the
Alamo Construction Company of San
Antonio to erect five bridges in the county, including one at
McAlister Crossing. The most expensive of the new structures, the
Bridge at McAlister Crossing, completed in 1915, cost nearly $9000.
Because members of the Mueller Family owned property on either end
of the bridge, it was often called Mueller Bridge. The three-span,
252-foot Mueller Bridge at McAlister Crossing features polygonal camelback
trusses with multiple panels. For over 70 years it served local residents,
surviving Cibolo Creek's occasional raging waters. Closed to vehicular
traffic in 1988, it remains a historic link to engineering designs
of the early 20th century."
- Shirley Grammer |
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Photographer's
Note:
"This is the same bridge that the Road Closed sign in La
Vernia included. The bridge hasn't changed a bit since the 2001
photo. The underneath was totally blocked from view by vegetation
and thorns." - Barclay
Gibson |
Mueller Bridge
at McAlister Crossing
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 |
More views of
the Mueller Bridge
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 |
Mueller Bridge
side view
The underneath was totally blocked from view by vegetation and thorns
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, March 2008 |
1907 postal map
showing Cibolo Creek and La
Vernia in northern Wilson
County
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
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